Sodalite is a naturally occurring mineral that has a variety of uses. For instance, sodalite can be used as a catalyst material, used as a filler in paints or other coating materials, use as a water softener, used as a detergent builder, used as an adsorbent, and used as a desiccant. Due to the relative scarcity of sodalite, sodalite is commonly synthesized from various materials. One known process for manufacturing sodalite is by reacting kaolinite clay with sodium hydroxide under mild hydrothermal conditions. Another known process for manufacturing sodalite involves the reaction of a silicon source, an aluminum source, and an alkali or alkaline earth under elevated temperatures as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,020,147.
Although these various processes are useful in forming sodalite, past processes for forming sodalite did not achieve high purity levels for the formed sodalite. Starting materials such as kaolinite clay can include various impurities such as iron, etc., which can adversely affect the properties of the formed sodalite (e.g., discoloration, reduced brightness, etc.). Another disadvantage with past processes for forming sodalite was associated with the resulting particle size of the formed sodalite. The formed sodalite commonly had a large average particle size. When smaller particle sizes were required, the formed sodalite had to be classified to achieve the needed particle size distribution. Such classification processes were both time consuming and costly thereby increasing the production cost of the sodalite. The formed sodalite that had a large a particle size, thereby limiting the use of the sodalite in filler applications and/or other applications that required very small particles sizes.
In view of the current state of the art, there is a need for a process that synthetically produces sodalite at high yield rates, forms a sodalite having a low impurity content and/or a has desired small particle size.